Small Business Spotlight: Fin Pin Shop
It’s March and Nowruz is almost here! I’m getting a bit of a late start but I wanted to share a few fellow Persian makers/creators with you this month. First up, is my dear friend Yasmin and her two women team you might have seen me share about on Instagram: Fin Pin Shop!
I met Yas through instagram and we instantly bonded as many do who share the small business joys and woes. We then further connected through our Persian heritage and love of animals. Yasmin is someone I can always count on to talk about our shops and she always finds the best cute animal videos to share with me! I admire her dedication and advocacy to the ocean and all the critters inside it. I’m so honored to feature her on my blog!
Check out more about Fin Pin Shop below!
Can you introduce yourself and Fin Pin Shop?
Absolutely! Fin Pin Shop is run by two women, Jaclyn & Yasmin, who advocate for marine life through ocean-inspired products. We are biologists who love ocean puns and promote an eco-friendly lifestyle. Our products donate to research and ocean conservation while tapping into important messaging, like respecting our oceans!
Diving deeper into who we are individually, Jaclyn is an avid ocean advocate with a Bachelor’s degree from Ohio University in Marine Biology and a Master’s degree from Nova Southeastern University in Environmental Education. She has worked as an aquarist, marine science educator, water quality technician, classroom teacher, expeditions manager, SCUBA instructor, and even a mermaid! She is a volunteer supervisor with her local sea turtle patrol and lives in Florida with her husband, son, and rescue animals.
When it comes to myself (Yasmin), I believe art plays a powerful role in fostering environmental awareness and I create our designs with that goal. I obtained my Master's degree in Environmental Science from Drexel University, and recently my Master of Business Administration, focusing on Data Analytics, from Florida International University. There's three things you learn about me pretty quickly: I love manta rays, cats, and turning everything into puns.
Jaclyn is on the left and Yasmin is on the right!
What first sparked your interest in animals and the ocean?
Oh gosh, well Jaclyn was pretty much a water baby from the start, always drawn to the ocean, even though she grew up in Ohio. Funnily enough we were both born in Ohio! We were destined to meet, for shore. The ocean has shaped a lot of Jaclyn's life, she spent years volunteering for aquariums and zoos, educating and caring for ocean animals.
While I have always loved animals, I felt my need to save ocean life brought on by a specific encounter in my early 20's. One day on a vacation in Hawai'i I found myself swimming next to a reef manta ray, the first one I had ever met! Unfortunately this sweet ray had a large, rusted, commercial fishing hook attached to her cephalic fin (these are head fins they use to scoop food into their mouth). Her fin was more than half gone and the hook looked so heavy. That was the moment that truly set me on this path.
What is your favorite cephalopod :D
Oh I love flamboyant cuttlefish! They are just so fun and fascinating with their color changes and I love when they lift their little arms inquisitively in aquariums!
How do you feel your Persian and Turkish backgrounds influence your art?
I think the perfect example of this influence is in our "lucky eye" designs! This is when I completely unleashed my culture into our designs. We have both a sticker sheet and an enamel pin with the lucky eye, called nazar bonçuk in Turkish. This blue eye symbol is regarded as a protection against envy and jealousy, to bring good luck and repel the bad. In Turkish culture, it’s worn as beads, jewelry, displayed as wall ornaments, and even found in mosaics outside of shops. I believe this is also prevalent in Persian culture as I've seen these blue lucky eyes on display in both my Turkish and Persian family member's houses growing up. I have had a lucky eye on my wrist or worn it as a necklace since I was a baby so this was something I was extremely excited to bring to Fin Pin!
https://finpinshop.com/products/lucky-eyes-sticker-sheet-sharks-rays-octopus-fish
Where is your favorite place to find inspiration?
I am so inspired by what I sea in aquariums and out in the ocean! With Instagram being such a big part of my business, I also find inspiration from others around the world on that platform. I consistently stumble across the most FINcredible footage of ocean species which make me want to pick up my Apple pencil (wish I was sponsored, lol) and start drawing!
What do you have currently in the shop that you're most excited about?
We just released a huge set of 7 sea turtle pins which donate 20% back to sea turtle conservation and research with Inwater Research Group! Each purchase of these pins support research and education programs critical to the continued survival of sea turtles today and for future generations!
Do you have any upcoming products or projects that you want to share?
Oh gosh we are working hard on a new character, Munch, who is a Mola mola. This cute little fin (friend - I know we go hard on the puns! lol) has a little chunk missing, which honestly feels relatable to us in 2022. We went through so much the past couple years but still, we persevered. We are currently developing scrunchies and other fun products with this little fin we created, and we are so excited!
Here's our first Munch product! Soon to be on our website :)
